The National Liberal Party (PNL) decided on Monday to start collecting signatures for convening an extraordinary parliamentary session, PNL chairman Ludovic Orban announced.

“PNL decided today to start collecting signatures both in the Chamber of Deputies and in the Senate in an attempt to convene an extraordinary parliamentary session.We called for an extraordinary parliamentary session to be convened as early as two weeks ago. Unfortunately, while Romania has no budget, Dragnea and Tariceanu refused to convene the extraordinary session for the adoption of some fundamental normative acts to solve serious situations in the Romanian society The objective of convening the extraordinary session, through the signatures of one third of the MPs from the Chamber of Deputies, respectively from the Senate, is to find immediate solutions to major problems affecting the Romanian society,” Orban said after the meeting of the PNL Executive Bureau.

According to Orban, the Liberals also demand the urgent rejection, through parliamentary debate, of Government Emergency Ordinance 114/2018.

Ludovic Orban argued that the leu completely collapsed due to Government Emergency Ordinance 114/2018. “Our forecasts are coming true. The leu collapsed, the leu-euro exchange rate reached a historic threshold in which the euro reached 4.7 lei and the leu’s collapse continues. Also, on the energy market, historic highs have been recorded for energy price. These phenomena are in fact consequences of the disastrous economic policies implemented by the PSD-ALDE governments (…),” Orban said.

Party holds regular meetings with President Klaus Iohannis

He also stated on Monday that the party holds regular meetings with President Klaus Iohannis, but emphasized that this is no constitutional ground to move for the suspension of the head of the state from office.

“We will not brief you about every meeting, we see each other regularly and communicate. It is important to have communication, a coordination of positions, together we support what we think is good for Romania and I believe that the President of Romania enjoys an enhanced importance at the time the country holds the Presidency of the Council, because he is currently the leader with the highest credibility in the EU and virtually the only one capable of improving Romania’s image that has been seriously damaged by the actions of the PSD-ALDE ruling alliance,” Orban said when asked about his meetings with the head of the state.

Orban also stressed that this is not a constitutional ground to suspend the President, as unlike PSD’s ‘father’ Ion Iliescu, President Iohannis has never urged a particular way of voting and consultations with the party he has formerly led and which backed him in elections are normal, added Orban.

Regarding the organization of a referendum on justice on the same day with the elections to the European Parliament, the PNL Chairman said: “For now, the matter is before the Constitutional Court and we will discuss is after the latter hands down a decision.”

“The referendum is the ultimate form of democracy and the citizens’ opinion on an important subject for the evolution of democracy can be sought any time. (…) If the President has an intention in this regard, I am sure he will announce it. The PNL has a fair, normal partnership with him, established through the commitments we undertook when he won the position of President, running as a candidate of PNL. We definitely coordinate our positions and support each other,” added Ludovic Orban.

The PNL Chairman Ludovic Orban and several senior party members met last week with President Klaus Iohannis.

“The main theme of the meeting was the unfolding of the Presidency of the Council of the EU, Romania’s priorities at European level, ways whereby I, as PNL Chairman, can support the various priorities on the agenda through the good relations we have inside the EPP group. (…) We also discussed what we consider to be important about the European events to be held in Romania. There will be a meeting with the EPP group in the Committee of the Regions, there will be an EPP group meeting, most likely on the sidelines of European Council. Not a word has been said about the list for the European Parliament election or any other related topic, as certain sources falsely claimed,” Orban said.

Liberals file bill to reverse compensatory remedy law

The National Liberal Party is to file in Parliament this Monday a bill to reverse the compensatory remedy law, the party’s Chairman Ludovic Orban announced.

“We decided today to submit a bill to repeal Law 169 on the compensatory remedy, also accompanied by a set of amendments to the Criminal Code regarding the early release from prison, so as to increase the duration of detention, especially for violent crimes,” Orban said at the end of the meeting of PNL’s Executive Bureau.

He added that a solution to this problem must be urgently found.

“For two years now, the PSD-ALDE alliance has been governing to the benefit of offenders or of those about to convicted. (…) They created a social phenomenon, endangering the life, integrity and personal belongings of each citizen, by the early release of nearly 14,000 detainees, many of whom have relapsed and committed crimes against Romanian citizens,” Orban emphasized.

:PSD-ALDE, trying all subterfuges to achieve amnesty and pardon

The Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) do not have the courage to issue a normative act on amnesty and pardon and are therefore trying, through “all possible subterfuges”, to get the same result, Liberal leader Ludovic Orban says, referring to the draft emergency ordinance announced by Minister Tudorel Toader, which will allow the persons convicted by unlawfully constituted panels and who are no longer in term to file appeals for annulment.

“There is no basis for the decision of the CCR [Constitutional Court of Romania, ed.n.], PSD-ALDE have an obsession: amnesty and pardon. Without the possibility or courage to issue such a normative act, they are trying to achieve the same result, namely amnesty and pardon, through all possible subterfuges. Let us remember that since 2013 PSD has been trying to adopt the law on amnesty and pardon and only because of the position of the National Liberal Party this law has not been adopted and is not adopted to this very day also because of the opposition of President Iohannis and the National Liberal Party. It is very difficult for us to influence the decisions at the level of the Constitutional Court and they have generated countless false conflicts between the authorities in order to obtain decisions of the Constitutional Court to create different advantages for those who are on trial and are to be convicted and also for those who have been irrevocably sentenced. That you should come in now to say that you are giving an emergency ordinance to reinstate in term those who have were convicted, I find it deeply unconstitutional and it has no ground in the CCR’s decision,” Orban said.

He added that, according to the CCR’s decision, there is no ground for issuing such an emergency ordinance, and those who have were convicted must execute their sentence.

Justice Minister Tudorel Toader announced on Sunday evening that he has drawn up an emergency ordinance draft to give people who were convicted by “unlawfully constituted” panels and who are no longer in term the possibility to file appeals for annulment.

“We have prepared a draft emergency ordinance for the restoration of all those who have been convicted by unlawfully established panles. They will be able to appeal in the annulment, reinstated in term by ordinance, and the court, in a legally constituted panel, will judge and, if they are guilty, will pay, if they are not guilty, there is certainly no ground for them to pay,” Toader said.

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